Just when you thought you were safe from getting drafted into the service, you learn that the Army may be forced to come and get you! Why….? Well, 75 percent of 17 to 24 year olds interested in military service cannot meet the requirements. They are either overweight, score poorly on the entrance test or have criminal issues. Of the 3 disqualifiers; two can be fixed. The heavies can simply lose weight. Many of those who failed academically can be tutored to minimum levels. But those found unfit for past criminal activity will not be in the service, they will be on a street near you. Bottom line, I believe that in two or three years we will no longer be able to meet the minimum armed forces head count requirements and you know what that means…d-r-a-f-t! After all, the Army recruiting command stated in 2008 nearly 30 percent of youngsters fell into one or more of the above disqualifiers.
Retired Joint Chiefs chairman, Shalikashvili, said, “We’ve never had this problem of young people being obese like we have today.” He went on to declare the ever-increasing number of youth who are not able to meet minimum standards for military service is a matter of national security. “We should be concerned about how this will impact this overstretched Army and its ability to recruit.”
The statements of Shalilkashvili and other military spokespersons were smooths. The fact of the matter is that since 2004, the Army has doubled waivers that granted potential enlistees with criminal or misdemeanor activity on their personal records opportunities to enlist. But what really got my attention regarding the impact of youngsters failing to meet enlistment requirements was research data that confirmed what many have known for a long time…that an intervention vehicle such as a quality early childhood education not only improves graduation rates by as much as 44 percent, it also dramatically lowers the odds of committing violent crimes during the same age range.
In case you are wondering where the irony is in all this, these revelations about the quality of potential recruits the Army is seeing comes on the heels of an announcement from the Pentagon that 2008 was their best recruiting year since the advent of the all-volunteer services in 1974. And a lucky thing too because two bad things helped make what may yet be a good thing: the loss of employment opportunities in these awful economic times and the on-going need for military personnel in the middle east seemed to have canceled each other out. But what we need to be concerned with is a significant turnaround that creates good jobs occurring at the same time as an event causing the need for a significant increase in troops. If the relative quality of youngsters available for military service is a problem now, how much worse will it be then? Also bear in mind that the 75% above portends a nasty potential for all of us even if there is no military conflict in the world. This data reveals far-reaching and serious implications for the future of the United States. Can anyone say Rome? COMMENT: I blame the increasing magnitude of the problem on personal greed stripped from businesses. Do you agree?
